Clarky

Here's us on the Friday night at the Armazem do Cha in Porto with the promoter lady (guess which one she is? ) [attachment=75387:189073_1...600915_n.jpg] and here's a bunch more, freshly arrived [attachment=75409:188566_1...573422_n.jpg] [attachment=75410:189410_1...245065_n.jpg] [attachment=75412:199284_1...831165_n.jpg] [attachment=75413:200568_1...488638_n.jpg] [attachment=75411:196320_1...5077_n_1.jpg] [attachment=75414:188750_1...810835_n.jpg]

[quote name='Doddy' post='1170972' date='Mar 21 2011, 05:48 PM']I love Chris Wood's playing,he does some great stuff on both Upright and Electric. His bass is a 1920's Pfretzschner. In the studio he uses a vintage RCA 44-BX ribbon mic infront of the bridge and a DPA condenser mic clipped to the body. Live,he uses the DPA condenser and a Fishman Full Circle Pickup with the Wood Brothers,and the Full Circle and a Realist with MMW,usually through an Ampeg B-15[/quote] Thanks Doddy. Blimey you know a lot about his gear! A DPA and a Full Circle would be a bit prohibitive cost-wise (c.£600 - ouch) but they sure do sound fantastic

I used this lot to get the blocked/bound 70s Jazz neck (MIM) that I put on my '71 P/J (in the Gear Porn pages). They just take apart recent Fenders and sell off the bits and gave a pretty good service, as far as I was concerned.

[quote name='benbastin' post='1170947' date='Mar 21 2011, 05:26 PM']He's also the bass player in this band. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9otVOpKYLw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9otVOpKYLw[/url] It looks like int he video he's using a small clip n mic. I've been using a DPA 4099 for a few weeks now and its the best sound i've ever gotten.[/quote] Thanks Ben - I presume you run that through a preamp (Fishman? LR Baggs?) or a specific DB amp (AI, AER?).

[quote name='TPJ' post='1170925' date='Mar 21 2011, 05:15 PM']I've put superglue on my fingers (very carfully as to not stick them together) before some marathon sessions. Callouses are the preferred thing but the glue can help out in a pinch.[/quote] Good tip thanks, if you will excuse the pun!

I was tipped to listen to the album 'Ways to lose' by the Wood Brothers (blues/folk duo) and duly downloaded. The DB sounds absolutely wonderful - so earthy, warm and a lovely buzz to the strings on the board. I am assuming that the DB must have been miked to get that sort of sound? I couldn't find a link to the album but here they are live:

Plus one from me. Shaun just bought a set of pickups off me and paid in the blink of an eye! If Royal Mail doesn't muck up, you will have them tomorrow mate. Nice one

Having played DB gigs two nights running at the weekend (with longish soundchecks before each), the pad on my right hand forefinger (which I predominantly pluck with) is extremely sore, although there's no blister. Damn good job I didn't do the three gigs the prior two days, I reckon. I presume there's zip all you can do about this?

Just booked for Mrs Clarky and I

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1170424' date='Mar 21 2011, 10:34 AM']Will you be going back for more?[/quote] We have been invited back to play a festival in Portugal in late August so looks likely

[quote name='silddx' post='1170390' date='Mar 21 2011, 09:52 AM']Sounds fantastic, Clarky! Are you glad or regretful that you couldn't do all the dates? [/quote] I am not sure my problem liver would thank me had I done all the dates! Je ne regrette rien, or whatever

[quote name='Clarky' post='1169596' date='Mar 20 2011, 03:37 PM']We burned a bunch of CDs with proper professional gatefold artwork and printed discs to bring on our Portugal tour. I have a handful left which I can send out to BC'ers for a fiver including post if interested?[/quote] Anyone else fancy one?

[quote name='tom1946' post='1170310' date='Mar 21 2011, 07:50 AM']So make one that's identical and use it, I mean how hard can it be? [/quote] I made something very similar [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=125785&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=125785&hl=[/url] (Mind you, I'm probably going to put it back to a fretless and sell my Tony Franklin fretless)

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1170189' date='Mar 20 2011, 10:55 PM']I know an amazing accordian player (really) and I've been known to have the odd fiddle.......[/quote] Seriously, we are after an accordion player. if he/she likes our stuff and is interested could you get them to drop me a line, Adam? Thanks mate

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1170174' date='Mar 20 2011, 10:49 PM']Sounds bloody marvellous Clarky. I think I may brush up my French Horn and join the band [/quote] If you can play accordion or fiddle, you're in!

sounds a roaring success, Adam. Shame it clashed with our gig, otherwise I would have been there. BTW my lot are up for triple header with BigRedX's lot and the Jetsonics

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='1170064' date='Mar 20 2011, 09:28 PM']Just downloaded and put a quick review up on Amazon - sorry, not my greatest piece of writing but hope it helps![/quote] Thanks Mike, much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it! Here's Mike's review for those interested [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B004Q2G3OU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0...howViewpoints=1[/url]

This looks very useful as a do-it-all pedal for DB. [url="http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product_details.cfm?ProdID=2093"]http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product_details.cfm?ProdID=2093[/url] I was using my Eminence through a Fishman and DI'ing into the PA in Portugal over the past few days and the silent stomp tuner functionality would have been so useful (the Eminence strings tend to go slightly flat for the first few hours after you put the removable neck back on). Plus you get the LR Baggs EQ/DI which seems to be pretty much on a par with the Fishman Platinum Pro (and is recommended by the manufacturers of the Eminence). Anyone tried this? ANy views? Thanks!

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1169974' date='Mar 20 2011, 08:32 PM']London in 10 days and I haven't bumped this thread in a while. See new dates I've added [/quote] Hope to make it to the Half Moon gig, Tim

[quote name='Kirky' post='1169615' date='Mar 20 2011, 03:56 PM']I'll take one. PM payment details please.[/quote] Thanks Kirky, PM'd back

We burned a bunch of CDs with proper professional gatefold artwork and printed discs to bring on our Portugal tour. I have a handful left which I can send out to BC'ers for a fiver including post if interested?

I landed at Porto airport about 11pm on Thursday and was picked up 45 minutes later by the band in the tour minibus. We were staying in the Holiday Inn in the district of Matosinhos, not far from Porto (here the venues each supply the hotel, which meant changing hotels every day even if the gigs were not that far apart). The band had already played three small gigs on the Weds/Thurs, each of which was in a shopping mall (eg, the FNAC complex in Matosinhos). I don't think it was quite what they had expected but fun nonetheless. The tour featured a slimmed down version of Rattlin Bone (there are normally 13 or 14 of us). So we were playing to tapes of the backing singers and brass section. The tour band comprised double bass (me for the last two gigs; tapes before I arrived), drums, guitar, souzaphone, trombone, and lead male and female vocals. Back to the diary, having dumped my bags in my room (including the big hard golf case that contained my removable necked Eminence upright bass) we of course went to the hotel bar, where we stayed drinking until 3.30am, just to ensure we all had hangovers the next day. I am (under doc's orders on a low-fat, low-alcohol diet which was suspended in my time in Portugal!) So, Friday ... Got up at 9am for breakfast, feeling grim, as my room-mate is an early riser. Went back to bed to hold head for an hour then checked out and crammed all our gear into the minibus. This was like doing a Rubrik's cube with a hangover as there were seven in the band plus promoter and her roadie guy. Eventually we managed to pile the gear in and drove off, each of us in the back carring (squashed by) something awkward, in my case a floor tom. We drove to the centre of Porto, dropped our bags and went for a wander in search of sun (it was gloriously sunny but very cold in the shade). Bang went the diet as we found a big sunny square and piled into cheese omelette and chips. Lots of chips. With ketchup and mayonnaise. Mmmm says the man who has been living off low-fat yoghurt and grilled fish and salad (not together of course, fish yoghurt isn't a favourite). About 6pm we unloaded the gear into the venue which was a very funky bar-cum-club in the centre of Porto called the Armazem do Cha - the main 'alternative' (non-chart topper band) venue - and soundchecked. The venue then fed us at a restaurant (bacalao, salt cod, which was full of lethal bones and not great) and we went back to the hotel as we were not due to play until 12.30am. Having made ourselves up as zombies we went to the venue, frightening a few people on the way. The Armazem do Cha is a very buzzy place, packed with a young crowd, drinking beer, cocktails, or pots of tea (! Cha means tea). They pushed back our onstage time to 1.30am, which is an unnatural time for an old git like me! Anyway we played an hour-long set which was well received to maybe 100 or so people at any one time (lots of people mlling between the various drinking rooms and watching us) and got loud yells for an encore, which we duly obliged with ... And f@cked up royally as the drummer, guitarist and trombone player all came in a bar or so too early/late. We did get it together at the first chorus and probably noone really noticed. But definitely a Category 2 moment, according to the standard definitions created by BC's Low End Bee. After the gig we drunk until 4.30am and crashed. This time we were in triple rooms and I got the bed by the bathroom door, meaning I had to listen to one of my room-mates, who had overdone the caipirinhas, chucking up for England for 15 minutes. Saturday and last gig. We checked out of hotel, feeling a tad ropey, and did the 'how the hell do we all fit with our gear into the minivan' game. Then a two hour drive to Figueira da Foz, a pretty seaside resort. Were much cheered on the way in as we saw huge road-side posters for Rattlin Bone. It was a very well promoted event at a big multicultural centre called the CAE (Centro Artos and Espectaculos, or something like that). We went to the venue straight away to drop our gear and soundcheck, which we thought would allow us an hour or two on the beach later in the afternoon. Wrong. Despite having a three-man team, the manana sound engineers (who kept disappearing every few minutes for fags, coffee, or basically anything that prevented them doing anything useful) took three hours to set up the stage. Talk about boring. We then had problems with the soundcheck (having told them we didn't need the drums miked, they miked them, and the had problems with the acoustics). The room itself was a theatre auditorium with 200 seats capacity and a decent stage. After soundcheck the venue fed us some superb shrimp and saffron risotto and Vinho Verde (nice zingy local white wine) and we went to the dressing rooms to get zombified. The dressing rooms were larger than most venues we have played - each of us could have had two mirrors (the ones with lightbulbs all the way round), there were showers, wardrobes etc. Being a cultural centre our onstage time was a more normal 9.30am and we were well chuffed to learn they had sold all but 10 tickets. We waited back stage and were given the nod to go on. We then played a really good, tight set for an hour and had a really appreciative audience who got us back on for an encore with really loud yelling and applause. Probably the best we've ever played and the best reception we have ever had. Really fulfilling. We then of course went to the bar, had a few and then loaded the gear into the van. Off to hotel, drop bags and out drinking again. I threw in the towel at 3.15am as I had a 6.30am taxi pickup (the rest of the band had a later flight back) and I write this from the taxi. Conclusions: That was really fun, the camaraderie was great, the audiences were appreciative (even if the venues were quite idiosyncratic, mainly the ones before I arrived thankfully). The cramped minibus, the painfully slow sound engineers and the hangovers were not so great! But a brilliant experience overall and I will post pictures as soon as the promoter lady sends them on.

[quote name='Paul S' post='1166196' date='Mar 17 2011, 08:00 PM']Nice one. My experience of the Portuguese is that they are an extremely friendly nation. A tip - when filling your hire car at a petrol station where you've just encountered the one person in the whole country who doesn't speak English, 'Gasoleo' in Portuguese means 'diesel', not 'Gasoline'. Seems perfectly logical now - gas oil, gas-oleo...[/quote] Thanks but hopefully not required. The Portuguese promoter is driving the band minibus herself. Mind you, I'm thinking Anvil and Spinal Tap ...